Purpose

To recommend a budget to
Full Council

Decision

Resolved:

Cabinet recommends to Council:

a)    That a net general fund budget of 2025/26 of £527.420m is approved;

b)    That the Council Tax requirement for the council be set at £368.818m for 2025/26 with a Band D charge of £1,886.99, an increase of £1.56 per week;

c)    That the Wiltshire Council element of the Council Tax be increased in 2025/26 by the following:

i.               A 2.5% general increase;

ii.       Plus a levy of 2% to be spent solely on Adult Social Care;

d)    That the Extended Leadership Team be required to meet the revenue budget targets for each service area as set out in Appendix 1 to this report, for the delivery of council services in 2025/26;

e)    That the Extended Leadership Team be required to deliver the revenue savings plans for each service area as set out in Appendix 1 to this report, over the MTFS period 2025/26 to 2027/28;

f)     That the changes in the fees and charges as set out in Appendix 4 are approved;

g)    That the Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2031/32 is approved;

h)    That the Capital Strategy set out in Appendix 2 is approved;

i)      That the Schools Capital Programme 2025/26 to 2030/31 in Appendix 3 is approved, including the proposal recommendations included and set out in that appendix;

j)      That the DSG budget as approved by Schools Forum is ratified;

k)    That the Medium Term Financial Strategy, the forecast balanced budget for 2025/26 financial year and the MTFS 2025/26 to 2027/28 is endorsed.

Cabinet approves:

l)      the spend against the following grants in Public Health expected in 2025/26;

i.               the smokefree grant of £0.553m towards enhancing Wiltshire's smoking cessation offer.

ii.             the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Grant of £1.078m.

iii.            the Drug and Alcohol Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant (DATRIG) of £1.215m.

Reasons for Decisions:

To enable the Cabinet to recommend to Council a balanced revenue budget for

the financial year 2025/26 and to set the level of Council Tax.

To enable effective, transparent decision making and ensure sound financial

management as part of the council’s overall control environment.

The Cabinet also sets out the final assumptions being used in the budget for

growth, inflation, demand for services, the estimated level of income from sales,

fees and charges and the level of income estimated from core funding e.g.

Page 109Council Tax, Business Rates and government grants as well as the level of reserves held and assessed by the council’s Section 151 Officer, as required, to provide future financial resilience.

This provides the council with a MTFS to deliver on the Business Plan priorities

and drives long term financial sustainability.